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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040441">Because I love you and it kills me to see you hurt</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_stars_and_moon/pseuds/Of_stars_and_moon'>Of_stars_and_moon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Missing Scene, POV Ronan Lynch, Pining, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Pre-The Raven Boys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:00:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,156</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24040441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_stars_and_moon/pseuds/Of_stars_and_moon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>But it was hard.<br/>Everytime Adam showed up with a new bruise, Ronan wanted to either trace it gently and take away all of Adam's pain or else drive to the trailer park and smash his fist into Robbert Parrish's face. But he didn't know which one would entail worse results.</p><p>(The two times Ronan offers to teach Adam how to fight)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>121</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Because I love you and it kills me to see you hurt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first time writing in TRC fandom, so sorry if it's not good<br/>Tw: Implied Child Abuse</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It didn't take long for Ronan and Gansey to figure it out. It wasn't too hard to connect the dots with Adam showing up with new bruises on his face every once in a while, wearing long sleeved sweaters and shirts to no doubt hide the ones on his arms, the poorly hidden flinches when there would be a loud voice, his reluctance to talk about his parents, his lame excuses for the bruises: "I fell down the stairs", "I stumbled across a pole".</p><p>Gansey had tried to talk to him about it— indirectly though— asking if it was because of some kids in his neighbourhood, if he had gotten into a fight. But every time, Adam brushed it off and refused to talk about it. Ronan usually didn't ask about it, because he knew that his blinding rage at Adam's father would unfurl into something dark and mean or either he'd say something that would end up giving out his particular secret about his dusty-haired friend. </p><p>But it was hard.</p><p>Everytime Adam showed up with a new bruise, Ronan wanted to either trace it gently and take away all of Adam's pain or else drive to the trailer park and smash his fist into Robbert Parrish's face. But he didn't know which one would entail worse results. </p><p>Ronan finally snapped when Adam missed a day of school and came back the next day with a fresh bruise on his jaw and a scratch over his eyebrow, grimacing at every moment. </p><p>Because Adam Parrish never missed school. No matter how exhausted he looked from the three jobs he worked at, he'd be at school. </p><p>So the next day when they met Adam at school, Ronan couldn't stop himself from asking, "Did you fight, Parrish?" Because he knew directly asking about his father was a sure way to guarantee Adam closing off and refusing to talk about it. </p><p>Adam opened his mouth, no doubt to give some excuse, so Ronan cut him off. "Don't say that you fell or some shit because this is obviously from a fight"</p><p>"Alright, whatever, what if it was a fight?" </p><p>"Who did you fight?"</p><p>"Why does it matter"</p><p>"Because I want to know," Ronan replied, crossing his arms over his chest. 'When will you stop lying about this?' he thought desperately. 'When will you just admit it? When will you let us help?'</p><p>"It was a boy from the neighbourhood," Adam answered finally. </p><p>"Why did you fight?"</p><p>Adam glared at him and it seemed like he wanted to shrug it off, but then he averted his gaze and in a tight voice, said, "I don't know. He was drunk."</p><p>Ronan's fist clenched tightly as he realized that it sounded an awful lot like the truth. Even though he already knew the answer, he made a show of inspecting Adam's knuckles and commented, "And you didn't fight back." </p><p>Adam looked weary with the conversion. "I didn't." </p><p>"Why?" asked Gansey, who had been quiet till then. </p><p>"I didn't want to," Adam replied simply. </p><p>"Fighting isn't something you want to do. Well unless you're Ronan," Gansey said. "You should have fought back to protect yourself."</p><p>"Don't you know how to fight?" Ronan asked. Adam stayed silent which he took as a yes so he said added, "I can teach you." </p><p>"Yeah, you could learn to fight from Ronan," Gansey agreed. </p><p>"I don't want to," Adam answered.</p><p>"Why not?" Ronan asked. "You can at least learn to throw a punch to defend yourself." </p><p>"Fuck off, Lynch," Adam muttered and stormed off. </p><p>Ronan wanted to punch something in frustration and he would have if Gansey wasn't right there.</p><p>"When will he stop lying about this?" Gansey asked, mostly to himself.</p><p>"Fuck if I know," Ronan replied</p><p>"Man, I wish we could do something." </p><p>Me too. The words died in his throat, instead he said, "You could start by getting a first aid kit and patching him up. It doesn't seem like he did anything about it."</p><p>Gansey nodded in agreement and followed Adam, leaving Ronan alone in the corridor. He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and remembered Adam's bruised face again. </p><p>---- </p><p>They didn't talk about it till a week later. Gansey had told Ronan that if Adam didn't want to talk about it, maybe they should try to give him some space, and Ronan had begrudgingly agreed. </p><p>Gansey and Noah had gone out to buy some juice, so Ronan answered the door when Adam showed up, this time with a bruise on his cheek and red rings around his wrist. </p><p>"The kid from your neighborhood again?" Ronan asked him, trying to clamp down his anger. </p><p>"Yeah," Adam replied, voice clipped, as he walked in. </p><p>"You should really learn how to fight. I can still teach you." </p><p>"I told you I don't want to." </p><p>"Why not?" Ronan tried his best to keep the desperation from his voice. "You're just going to let him beat you and not do anything?" </p><p>"Why are you so hung up on this?" </p><p>Because I love you and it kills me to see you hurt. </p><p>Ronan pushed the words away, forcing himself to give a nonchalant shrug. "Because if you don't fight back, he'll keep hurting you." </p><p>"If I fight back, it'll become worse," Adam said and Ronan realized that in a way, Adam was opening up about this. </p><p>"Well, if you do anything, he'll never stop."</p><p>"He has a gun, Ronan," Adam snapped, but then shut his mouth as he seemed to realize what he had said. </p><p>Ronan's heart dropped into his stomach, the breath getting knocked out of his lungs. "The fuck," he muttered through gritted teeth, running a hand over his buzzed hair. </p><p>Don't do something stupid, he told himself, though he wanted to burn Monmouth to the ground or kill Robert Parrish with his bare hands. </p><p>He forced a breath, and taking a step towards Adam, reached out a hand to his injured wrist, gently bringing their hands between them. </p><p>Adam didn't pull back, but clenched his fingers tightly. </p><p>"You don't have to go back there," Ronan said quietly. </p><p>"I have to," Adam said back and Ronan could feel the other boy's gaze on him, but he didn't look up from their hands as he said, "You could stay here." </p><p>"I can't." </p><p>Ronan sighed in frustration. The mere thought of Adam going back to his father made anger boil up in him. "You can-" he began but the door opened, making them jump apart, and Gansey and Noah came in. </p><p>As they greeted Adam and started asking about his bruises, Ronan went to his room, slamming the door shut behind him and leaned against it. </p><p>He hated Robbery Parrish. He hated Adam lying about it. He hated knowing that things at Adam's home were so much worse than he had assumed. </p><p>He hated that he cared so much and was so fucking obvious about it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you guys liked it! Kudos and comments are really loved!<br/>And you can find me on Tumblr under username<br/><a href="https://of-stars-and-moon.tumblr.com/"> "Of-stars-and-moon"</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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